The Dickinson press. (Dickinson, Stark County, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1883-1927, 1887-11-19
OUR FIGURING MILLS.
THE REVOLUTION THAT HAS TAKEN
PLACE SINCE 1880.

PLACE SINCE 1880.
Remarkable Results Attributable to
Changes i'll the Methods of Flour Max.
ing-Abandonmento of the Old Fashioned
Neighborhood N1ills-Some Statistics.
While 10y no means so unapproachable In
lis priority rs it once was, flour making is
still the greatest of our American industries
as regards the value of the product. Flour
and meat for food, iron and lumber for build
ing, cotton and woolen fabrics for clothing-
these six are our largest industrial products,
having aggregate yearly value i'll the order
named. But although first in tho value of its
product, the Touring and grist mill industry
is greatly surpassed in the number of men it
employs by ten or twelve other lines of manu-
facture. Our domestic use of flour remains
about the same per capita from year to year;
and aside from the increasing amount manu-
fnctulrd for export, the total output grows
only as our population grows. New methods
OF milling lave, moreover, led to the rapid
concent alton of tho industry and to actual
decrc;'s, N t.le num,erot men employed in it..
These changes, amounting almost TO rev.
oiution, have been most effectual since 1850,
and Ike condition of tho industry today can
10: te shown by complete statistics, but it is
certain that the census of 1890, when COM
pare; with that of its immediate predecessor,
VIII reveal some very remarkable results at
'r!hu'ah!e T. changes in the methods of flour
na1.Sl,g. Three fourths of the manual labor
once necessary TO the manufacture Of bar
III. of ho@g is dispensed with by the use Of
-: u" e>ses. Thus Col. Wright, in his re-
r-i; t4r 1856 of the United States bureau of
lahp, statistics, shows that in large Min
ii,fi,cl!, mil labor is only 5 2S per cent. of
die unit cost of making :, barrel of flour,
while the materials cost 81 IL per cent. and
all other elements OF expense amount to but
2Go per cent.
Mercham, milling Oh a very large scale is
the result of the economy and advantages of
the new processes; and the competition of the
Gre;t mills is causing the Abandonment and
decay of lluldre'is of the picturesque, old
fashioned II, ,,Aborhood mills In 1870, ac-
"or'ilng t. the census of that year, there We're
III tie entire couutry 22,51, gri>t mills, en-
r,"yin:s 5~,iiS hands, representing sl5l, 500,
u3''f capital, and maliinga product worth
Sii,h"9o,uO. In 1sG0 the number of estab-
iismlacmt> Was 2i,"Ss5S, the number of hands
aS,io', the capital invested Sli1,3Oo,000, and
lhH value of the lroduc. was s505, 1000 (tEc
lilt" o! flour had declined iper cent. III the
dc y !rl The il crcas. shown in the number
OF rstabiishments-l '65 for the ten years
Is more apparent than let. the great bulk of
il"uf having been ma e ina decidedly smaller
nunlher of m:!ls i'll 1850 Than in 1870 Since
10 '!,' l.!.,.tiiil.; Icrc Of the great nier-
cii%i.t la.iS upon ,hr >.ni,ii establishments has
BECOME visible 10 every one.
AN ASTONISHING DECLINE.
According to the miileis' directory for 1854
COMPLIED by Col. +. Harrison Cawker, oi
MilN"lt.i e, there We're ut that time 222,94(
,aiil, III the coG:.:ry-a decline Of ] 1893 from
the ceG=us figures of 1850. But this is Sigh,
loss rs compared with that Of the two Year,
fvo" Isl to l>o6, ii wa may rely upon Col
Caw&er', biennial directory. He finds that
the nuinber OF milling establishments has de.
ciilieu to lG,S16, a loss in two years Of 6,0S4
o. more than 26 per cent This seems almost
incHe IDLE, yet i. is probably not far from the
truth. When ono Investigates the facts for
his oNl! y.tiLity. and then stops to consider
that the small mills have Ill like manner hee,
disappearing in ali parts of the country, the
figures are more readily accepted. Mr.
CAar.e, y. Pi.lsbury, at the head of the
largest milling firm in the world says that
more than half of the merchant mills of Min
nesota, outside of Minneapolis, have been
shut down within the past few years.
The 'eclne is nowhere SO noticeable as in
the south. For example, North Carolina wa,
credited with l,%l5 mills in 1850 Their SIZE
may lie inferred from the fact that they re
quired. MI told, the services of only l,SI-
nlen, not or" in three having any hands be
side the miller himself, and the average
capital employed was only s2,45O Accord
ing TO Cawker's directory, there were only
siS mills i'll North Carolina i'll 1884, and only
G}, in 1886. More than half have beer
aba.ilomc.i since 1850. Virginia had LIS;
mills, employing 2a,222I men. IN 1880. In 1885,
the number had decreased to ISL, and nearly
u third of these disappeared in the next two
wears, leaving only 500. Mississippi had So:
iiili5 in tl.. census year, 3si in 1854 and Us il
iS,G G'e.iii,-aee's milling directories for the
sa.... years show $50 Isl and 536. Aiabamas
! dcr'ine i, shown by the figures S07, 453 and
-. Corr 2si,on'iing figures for Georgiu are
',l3!:, Obi and 3G4
Pennsylvania. which has always been firs
iii t,i" number of mills, is credited, with 239t
i'll ISL. n loss of i4G in two year,, New York
has l.:.';6 w.iei is 1856 less than i'll 1884
Na-Heiu",t, had in 1856 only 223 grist mills
rs az inst 30 in the census year. Illinoi:
was SHOWN b the census to have l.C24 mill
in issn and CO.. Cawkcr finds SOC in 1856
! thp d"c.ime not having begun until 1851, ii
wnir!! \ n Il maximum pf l:3 WAS reached
II ljeis.ii i!.u .Gj in 1870, and the number
lla.'. i. :'s.,ci to Il max .num Of SAG in 1884
bat I. ,ss O.: :? Il brought it down to Go i,
ls3G lac number OF mills in the country il
destined to lsea;!i- very much smaller still
because oi tii" superior advantages of ,argt
( milling and the constant improvement il
transportation facilities. es.-Albert Shaw il
IAe ChaGtauquuM